"Must a people disappear for us to know they exist?" -- Mano Dayak (1949-1995)

In Recognition of the Genocide

This website is dedicated to the hundreds and thousands of Tuareg men, women, and children, including many whole families, who have suffered and died over the past several decades, as a result of the deliberate exclusionary practicesthat have deprived the Tuaregs of critically needed food relief, medical care, and development. Governments have sought to silence the Tuaregs' legitimate complaints, through intimidation, arrests, rape, torture, extrajudicial execution and massacres, and to isolate them from the media and from humanitarian aid. HERE IS A TRIBUTE to the Tuareg people who have bravely continued to struggle for justice. May their voice be heard by the whole World.

Email contact:tuaregcultureandnews *gmail.com

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June 10, 2013

Ahmed Kemil, a young Tuareg man from northern Niger, has
written a deeply personal and sensuous account of growing up as a camel herder
in the Sahara.The book is written
in English, which will be much appreciated by those who do not read French,
since much of the literature on Tuaregs is in French.He writes about the practical concerns of nomads caring for
their precious livestock.Tuareg
nomads love their camels, and the camels also love their Tuaregs; they are like
members of the family.Each camel
has a history and a name.Ahmed
gives us very detailed insights into the concerns of pastoralists, their
ongoing quest for water and pasture, and their understanding of the harsh
terrain and the erratic weather.He talks about his joys and his fears, including his experiences in a
bush school, dealing with extreme thirst and pain, the ravages of flooding and
drought, and his tragic accident at the age of seven.He also talks about the connectivity between camps of
nomads, information sharing, and their community interdependency and
reciprocity that enables them to survive.The book is filled with personal stories of Ahmed’s life as a nomad,
including the second part of the book where he makes comparisons with his
experiences in the U.S.

Everyone
interested in the Tuareg people should consider buying a copy of this book!
Available on Amazon.com as a Kindle edition (you can read it on your
computer or iPhone).Readers
do NOT need a Kindle device in order to read a "Kindle" edition - when
you buy it, you will see that there are different options for reading
it, whether on a Kindle device, your computer, or the Amazon "Cloud."
It's easy!

April 14, 2013

Thousands of Tuareg people have been demonstrating at the Mbera refugee camp in Mauretania, where they fled from the armed conflict in Mali, the racialized hatred, and the atrocities of the Malian army. It has been really hard for them to survive in the Mbera refugee camp, because there is not enough shelter and food for everyone, and the children cannot go to school.

Bamako recently sent representatives to tell the refugees to go back to Mali so they can vote. But the refugees have refused for two reasons: (1) there have been ongoing arrests, torture, and killings by the Malian army of innocent Tuareg civilians, and (2) the elections are not fair - for years, now they have been hijacked by government officials who are in cahoots with the narco-traffickers and jihadists. They also pay people to vote for their candidates. The Tuaregs want democracy and fairness.

The refugees are speaking out about the injustices going back fifty years, and the crimes of the Malian government and army against their relatives and ancestors.

The two boys in the video are asking, "Why is Mali killing our people?" and "Why are Europeans and Arabs and other people free, but not the Tuaregs? Why are we treated differently?" They are saying, "The Kel Tamasheq want freedom and dignity!"

3 Million is probably
the lowest reasonable estimate for total Tuareg populations as of 2013.

Exact figures for Tuareg populations are not available.The national census takers in countries where
Tuaregs live do not classify population by ethnicity.Therefore, all figures for Tuareg
populations are based on estimates.Estimates range from a few hundred thousand to seven million – depending
on what countries and social classes of Tuaregs are included.Many Tuaregs feel that the population
estimates are usually much too low, and anthropologists generally agree that
the estimates are too low.

The Tuareg population has been in flux geographically for
decades, following droughts, conflicts, and political difficulties.Thousands upon thousands of Tuaregs
have died during major droughts, after the governments denied nomads food
relief.Thousands more have died
during conflicts.

Tuaregs live largely in Niger, Mali, Algeria, Libya, and
Burkina Faso - but also in Chad, Mauretania, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan,
Tunisia, and other West African and North African countries, as well as Europe,
the U.S., Canada, and many other countries.

The three major
anthropologists who have written extensive ethnographies of the Tuareg
people are Johannes Nicolaisen, Jeremy Keenan, and Edmond Bernus.They all acknowledge that it is
difficult to estimate the total number of Tuaregs.The estimates below go back decades – and populations have
tripled or quadrupled since the 1960s.

Johannes Nicolaisen, Anthropologist
(1963)

300,000 “free Tuareg” estimated in 1963

Nicolaisen, Johannes.1963.Ecology and Culture of the Pastoral Tuareg.Copenhagen:National Museum.

Edmond Bernus, Anthropologist
(1981)

“Being nomads, they are difficult to count, and census
figures given for them are often underestimated (Bernus 1981:55).”

Estimates range from 300,000 – 3 Million.“[The] difference is largely
accounted for by definitional confusion of ‘who is a Tuareg’:many former slaves and other formerly
subordinate peoples, who still speak the Tuareg language … are often counted as
Tuareg.” (p. 1)

“These … figures … are further complicated by the facts that
many Tuareg, especially in Mali and Niger, have been displaced from their
former homelands following the pressures of droughts and civil wars in the
1980s and 1990s, and … [migration] in search of employment.” (p. 2)
Source:Keenan, Jeremy,2004.Introduction:Indigenous Rights and a Future Politic amongst Algeria’s Tuareg after
Forty Years of Independence.IN:The
Lesser Gods of the Sahara.London:Frank Cass.pp. 1-3

Tuaregs

“The Tuareg
themselves claim to be more than three million.”

[Note:Most Tuaregs include any native speaker
of Temasheq, no matter what nationality or social class.]

“Although their
population of 1.5 million to 3 million spans five countries — Libya, Algeria,
Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso — the Tuareg are barely represented in any of
those countries' capitals.”Oct.
11, 2011

[Note:Many Tuaregs in these countries would
be agro-pastoralists or nomads living in rural areas.]

“The Tuareg
themselves claim to be more than three million. Yet their number has variously
been estimated at some 1.5 to 2 million, with the majority of some 750,000
living in Niger, and 550,000 in Mali. In Algeria they are estimated at 40,000,
excluding some 100,000 refugees from Mali and Niger, and the same number is
officially admitted to live in Burkina Faso. Proper figures are not established
in Libya and other West African francophone countries.”

These numbers are all estimates, and may exclude Tuareg who
are assimilated into the general population of these countries. Niger: 1.4 millionMali: 1.5 million Algeria: 590,000 Burkina Faso: 160,000 Libya: 190,000
Chad: 110.000

“In 1995, the governments of Niger and Mali negotiated a peace deal with Tuareg rebel groups
that ended a six-year rebellion. The deal offered financial incentives and the
broader integration of Tuaregs into positions of importance in the governments
and militaries of both countries, where
two-thirds of the Tuareg population lives, about 3.5 million people.”

[Note:This is
only for Niger and Mali; other countries are excluded.If 2/3 of the Tuareg population = 3.5
Million, then the total Tuareg population would be 5,250,000]

[2 Million in Mali alone]“Northern Tuareg secessionists in Mali, who have already
seized two-thirds of that country — an area larger than France, but with a
mostly-nomad Tuareg population of only two million”

March 01, 2013

I just posted the following on Bruce Whitehouse's blog article. The propaganda war against the Tuareg people is being fought by people who do not even know them - including the writer of the blog article, who is an anthropologist.

Bruce
Whitehouse, you should be ashamed of yourself. You are no expert on the
Tuaregs to be saying such misleading and damaging things about them, and
you have grossly violated the anthropological code of ethics. No one
should take anything you say seriously because it is clear that you have
a lethal axe to grind on the Tuareg people, without any authority
whatsoever.

The American Anthropological Association (AAA) Code
of Ethics says anthropologists have an obligation toward vulnerable
populations, to carefully weigh the consequences of what they claim
about them. Your statements about the Tuareg people demonstrate your
partisan bias against them, at a time when people of Tuareg identity are
at high risk for genocidal attacks, in a very sensitive geopolitical
situation that is dangerously impacting them. You are in flagrant
default of the AAA Code of Ethics and you should be ashamed of yourself
for making claims and arguments that are damaging to the Tuareg people.
You owe an apology to the hundreds of thousands of Tuareg people that
you have disrespected at a time when they are fleeing racialized hatred
and genocidal attacks. Your words have added to the propaganda and
hatred against the Tuareg people.

For you to say that In Kati,
the burning of Tuareg homes wasn’t discrimination, it was “a
misunderstanding” is a gross misrepresentation of what happened at Kati.
The streets filled with mobs of people screaming “Death to the
Tuaregs!” The Tuareg people were chased, robbed, and had their homes
burned, and hundreds of thousands of Tuareg people have fled the
visceral hatred and horrific abuses against them in Mali. A year later,
they are still refugees, having lost their homes and livelihoods. What
happened at Kati is emblematic of the abuses and atrocities that Tuareg
people have suffered for the past 53 years. Your attempt to softpedal
the ethnic hatred that has motivated the government of Bamako and people
in the south is insulting and damaging to the Tuareg people. In
soft-pedaling the ethnic hatred, you are showing your support for it.

You have tried to shut up the Tuaregs who have posted on your blog,
telling them (in French) to keep their opinions to themselves, while at
the same time blathering your own racist opinions against the Tuareg
people. Tuareg voices have been shut up for much too long. They are
indeed “coming out of the woodwork” – your choice of words, a pejorative
usage for disgusting things like bugs that “come out of the woodwork.”
Your words constitute propaganda against the Tuareg people, and your
attempts to shut them up are utterly disgraceful for an anthropologist.
The Tuaregs are not bugs, and they are beginning to have their voices
heard by speaking out against unjust propagandists such as yourself. You
insulted one Tuareg who attempted to write in imperfect English, and
claimed you could not understand him – but it is plenty clear that the
Tuareg writer is bringing his own argument to bear on your damaging
words.

It’s true that you are “no expert on the Tuareg,” and
you should not be making arguments against them. You are unable to bring
clarity to the problems facing the Tuareg people, and you have no
authority whatsoever to be making the claims you are making against
them. As an anthropologist, you have exceeded the limit of ethnocentrism
and you are actively promoting perspectives that are damaging to a
vulnerable ethnic group that you do not even know well enough to discuss
responsibly.

Some of the worst enemies of the Tuareg people are Westerners who make
their livelihood by spreading fear and hatred for an entire population that
they do not know.Several days
ago, USA Today published an article [1] by a young American reporter who wrote
that “Tuaregs have long kept slaves,” and implied that Tuaregs are still
“taking slaves” today and holding them captive.This is incorrect.The Tuaregs do not own slaves today, and do not capture people or hold
them as slaves.The reporter based
her article largely on propaganda she heard from one individual in southern
Mali.

The key to understanding why people in southern Mali are spreading such
propaganda is contained in the USA Today writer’s own observation:“Human Rights Watch said the Malian army and black African
civilians are holding all Tuaregsand Arabs
responsible for the recent months of terror and human rights abuses, whether or
not they participated in the crimes.”In order to report truthfully on the situation in Mali, the writer
should have taken her cue from the fact that the Bamako government, the Malian
army, and various people in the south are vilifying “all Tuaregs,” who live mainly in the north.

The
stigmatization of an entire population of hundreds of thousands of people is a
propaganda war. It can lead to
genocide.In Rwanda, the action
began unrolling as Hutus started publicizing hate messages about Tutsis.The Tuareg people are fearful of
genocide.

The
Malian army and government are dominated by ethnic groups in southern Mali that
are opposed to the Tuareg people.Various people in the south have been spreading fear and hatred of
Tuareg people in order to gain Western financial, military, and political support
– and to justify the Malian army’s gross abuses and atrocities against the
Tuareg civilian population., which have been documented throughout this past
year by human rights organizations.

Mali
has often played the “slavery card” against the Tuareg people to sway Western
support against them.However, we
must keep in mind that raiding, trading, and keeping slaves was practiced by
many peoples of Africa, and by ancestors of practically all the cultural groups
in Mali.The predominant Bambara
culture in southern Mali was no exception [2].

The
“slavery card” is a propaganda tool that is used to stigmatize a people
unjustly, to motivate Westerners and others to sympathize with the accusers,
and to downplay or ignore the legitimate grievances of the people who are
accused.

Slavery
in Mali was formally abolished in
1905 after the French colonized the region where Mali is today.Raids by the Bambara, Tuaregs, and others
to capture people and enslave them ended in the 1800s, and some slaves left
their masters after the 1905 emancipation.Tuaregs no longer own slaves, and the inheritance of slaves
stopped decades ago.

Some
people – in nearly every ethnic group in Mali – continued to maintain slaves for
some years during the colonial period.The term “Bella” is a Songhay term for “slave” that was applied by the
French to slaves in every ethnic group in Mali.The Tuareg term is iklan.The French did little to enforce the
anti-slavery law.There were few options
for slave-status people to obtain work elsewhere.Slaves were emancipated.But iklan remained
a recognized social status in a residual social system that included nobles,
vassals, marabouts, blacksmiths, and slave-status members, all of them
considered Tuaregs.

By
the mid-1940s, the majority of emancipated slaves had left their masters and
began living independently.Other
freed slaves continued to live in a patron-client relationship with their
associated families, who provided them with work and income or payment in kind.The political turmoil of the 1960s, and
especially the drought of the 1970s greatly impoverished the Tuareg
populations.Many Tuaregs fled
Mali to escape government oppression and army massacres. Nomad populations,
including the iklan, were denied food
aid during the drought, and many Tuaregs lost their livestock in the
disaster.

By
the mid-1970s, the vast majority of Tuaregs, no matter what their social class,
were living in abject poverty and could
no longer afford to support servants.Members of the “noble” social class were performing domestic chores such
as grinding grain and hauling drinking water.In some cases, descendants of freed slaves continued to live
in proximity to the families of their ancestors’ former masters.They did so by choice, because some
Tuaregs treatediklanlike friends or members of the family, and
the iklan had special roles to play
in family gatherings and rituals.

The
Tuareg social system has gradually evolved over the past 100 years since the
abolition of slavery.Tuaregs have
welcomed the transition to democracy, recognizing that all Tuaregs, including
descendants of former slaves, have equal rights under the law. The social
system that recognized “slaves” as a social class is in decline.

In a video documentary
titled “Modern Day Slaves - Niger” [3] a Niger government official says it is a
falsehood to say that “slavery exists.”Social status terms like iklan
exist as artifacts of the evolving social system, but the practice of slavery
does not.The film also shows that
some iklan continue to live with
their associated families, in patron-client relationships.The director of the Niger anti-slavery
association Timidria explains:“You will not find a slave market in Niger; nor will you find a shackled
slave, and even less a slave transaction.On the other hand, what the type of slavery we experience shares with
the former slave trade is humiliation, stigmas, the labels of persons who are
considered sub-human.” In other words, the practice of slavery does not exist –
it’s the stigma of being descended from former slaves that exists, at least in
some places.In the film, a
Timidria agent tries repeatedly to coerce a Tuareg family to admit that they
are “slaves” working for a “master,” and they repeatedly deny it.The film’s narrator says, “That has
made it a problem for Timidria to prove that there are 870,000 slaves… The
central government’s representative here … says there are none.”The governor of Tahoua then says, “I
can tell you that to my knowledge as the Governor of the Tahoua region which I
have been leading for almost six years, I have never been made aware that
slavery exists in the region.”The
film’s narrator says, “The government has long accused Timidria of inventing
claims of slavery, to get money from international donors.”

It
is possible to make a comparison with the U.S., following abolition, when
slaves were freed but many Americans in the south continued to think in terms
of the old social system. It takes time for a population to make a full
adjustment to a major change in social organization. African-Americans
today still feel the pain and stigma of their ancestors who were once slaves,
and discrimination has not disappeared.

Slavery
was formally and legally abolished in America over 150 years ago, and in Mali
over a century ago.Social change is
an ongoing process, as people continue to adjust to a different social system,
and different ways of thinking.There is a difference, however, between a “slave” social status and
“keeping slaves.”Both are
repugnant, and all of the ethnic groups in Mali and Niger are gradually making
the transition that Americans and Europeans have had to make to achieve a more
truly democratic society.Democracy
is relatively recent in Mali and Niger, since the early 1990s.The fact is that Tuaregs today do not capture,
own, or keep slaves, and they recognize the value of democracy.

The
United States, and many European countries, also had a long history of
slavery.Slavery is a sad part of
our history that we share with many African peoples.Like Americans and Europeans, African peoples are making the
effort to move past that history.

Many
Tuaregs are dismayed by the falsehoods reported in the USA Today article.Tuareg voices are being expunged from
the media by a powerful propaganda campaign promoted by various political
voices in the south, reinforced by Western journalists who do not understand
the political dynamics in Mali.We
must help the Tuareg people communicate the truths of their suffering – and the
vilification of their population by people in Mali and by Western reporters who
do not even know them.

February 17, 2013

1. The MNLA [National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad] would like to remind everyone
that the MNLA was at the outset a peaceful movement that tried to work for a
political settlement of the issues through dialogue – and this includes our
correspondence addressed to the Malian authorities dated 05 October 2011
[several months before the armed conflict that began January 17, 2012]
2. The MNLA is asking for the
immediate opening of negotiations with the Government of Mali, to lay down the
conditions for the exercise of authority, administration, and development in
Azawad.
3. The MNLA is requesting the
appointment of a neutral mediator, one who is internationally recognized, and
accredited by both parties [MNLA and Mali].
4. The MNLA does not take issue
with the internationally recognized borders of Mali, while clearly keeping in
mind that Azawad exists as an entity.
5. The MNLA recalls that on the
eve of the independence of the Sudanese Republic, which is now the Republic of
Mali, the populations of Azawad joined Mali's independence but wanted respect for
their cultures and their dignity.
6. Given our commitment to peace,
the MNLA is requesting the participation of France, the United States of
America, United Nations, European Union, African Union, and the Organization of
the Islamic Conference, as observers in the negotiations with Mali.
7. The MNLA reaffirms its
commitment to the International Declaration of Human Rights, the Charter of the
United Nations, and fundamental freedoms.
8. Considering the poverty,
abandonment, and contempt in which populations of Azawad have always been kept
within Mali, the MNLA is asking for aid and development for Azawad:
a. Health services (clinics and
hospitals)
b. Water and electricity
c. Food aid - the population urgently
needs food
d. Reopening the schools
throughout Azawad, and support for students to take up their studies again
e. The MNLA is asking for
amelioration of the degraded living conditions of refugees and displaced populations,
and help for them to return quickly to their homes and pasture sites.
9. The MNLA is asking for the
appointment of a coordinator approved by both parties [MNLA and Mali], to
restore these basic services in Azawad, and to establish effective procedures
to ensure transparency in the management of funds, to avoid corruption and
nepotism.
10. The MNLA maintains its
commitment to fight against terrorism and assumes its share of responsibility
in this fight, according to its means.
11. The MNLA does not accept a Malian military presence in areas under its
control before the end of negotiations. The MNLA favors a political solution to the issue of Azawad.
12. The MNLA wants to draw the attention of the international community to the
many abuses that have recently been committed in areas occupied by the Malian
army.The MNLAsupports the request of Human Rights
Watch to start an independent international commission of inquiry into these
recent human rights abuses. The MNLA is also asking for the opening of an
independent international investigation to shed light on the crimes committed
by the Malian army from 1963 to the present day among the populations of Azawad.
13. The MNLA denies any responsibility for the sad events in Aguelhoc in January
2012, and is eager for the establishment of an international commission of
inquiry to establish the facts surrounding Aguelhoc. The MNLA is willing to
contribute to a search for the truth of what happened at Aguelhoc.

Toumast Press
Saturday, February 16, 2013 8:35 p.m.
Since the beginning of “Operation SERVAL” in Azawad, the MNLA has continued to
bring to public awareness the rights of civilian populations who are facing an
outpouring of vengeance that is animating the Malian military and local
politicians who are returning to Timbuktu and Gao. These "returnees"
are trying to galvanize feelings of vengeance among the local populations.

The National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad (MNLA) reminds the
national and international community that it must remain committed to the
principles of international law regarding the protection of civilians.

Eight (08) Tuareg pastoralists were abducted and executed in a camp not far
from Diabali in the region of Ségou. Additionally, other abuses were
committed against a nomadic camp between Sokolo and Nara in the middle of that
week. We were told about Malian soldiers entering the nomad camp, and leaving
with the men, as well as their vehicles and numerous sheep, on the eve of the
feast of Tabaski. It is this same Diabali army barracks which was already
implicated in the massacre of 16 Muslim preachers the previous month [September
9, 2012].

On November 28, 2012, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon[ii]
expressed his concerns about the risk of military intervention in Mali, and he
asked the UN Counsel to ensure that the African forces will respect human
rights before giving the green light to its implementation. The
concerns of the Secretary General of the UN have now proven a reality that must
be addressed.

At the beginning of 2013, during a press conference on Tuesday, January 22,
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon[iii] welcomed
the "courageous" intervention of France in Mali. Ban Ki-moon
has continued to warn repeatedly about the risks of this humanitarian
intervention. UN resolution 2085[iv] advises a
political process to resolve the conflict. This resolution should allow for
negotiations with the movements that have severed all ties with terrorist
organizations. The MNLA has always distanced itself from such groups and
has refused any compromise with them.

Despite appeals to the UN and NGOs, the Malian authorities have turned a blind
eye to these very troubling crimes.

IN THE REGION OF MOPTI

Human Rights Watch[v] reports,
February 1, 2013: "Malian government forces summarily executed at least 13 suspected
Islamist supporters and forcibly disappeared five others from the garrison town
of Sévaré and in Konna during January 2013.... Islamist armed groups in Konna
executed at least seven Malian soldiers, five of whom were wounded, and used
children as soldiers in combat.”

According to the Testimony of relatives and neighbors gathered by Human
Rights Watch, “Another witness said that on January 22, Malian soldiers took a
well-known religious leader from the village of Gnimi-Gnama while he was
preparing for prayer. Five days later, his bloated body was found a kilometer
away…. Between January 9 and 18 in Sévaré, Konna, and surrounding
villages, Malian soldiers also allegedly forcibly disappeared five men, mostly
ethnic Peuhl [Fulani].”

Amnesty International[vi] has
received several reports indicating that members of the Malian army have
committed extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances on January 10 and
11. More than 20 civilians have been arrested in the streets or at the bus
station in Sevaré. Bodies were thrown into a well in the neighborhood of
Waïludé.

The International Federation of Human Rights[vii]
has warned the international community that the situation requires concerned
parties to react in order to avoid further reprisals and serious intercommunal
tensions. Responding to this information, the French Minister of Defence
appealed to the Malian army to be "extremely vigilant" against the
risk of abuse. "The army must be irreproacable, and there can be no
question that we will sanction any actions that we would reproach for the
terrorists," the Malian government said in a statement, but all of that remains
empty talk.

The Malian army’s vengeance that was predicted before Operation SERVAL began
has thus ensued and continues to come to the knowledge of the national and
international community – but no perpetrator has been arrested.

These last two months have seen the fury of the Malian army, unable to accept
its earlier defeat in Azawad, which is now attacking unarmed civilians – and
there is no help from anyone to assuage the Malian army’s hatred. The
Malian army’s abuses and extra-judicial summary executions have continued –
under the gaze of a disillusioned international community that is reluctant to
express any outrage at the horrors.

“Concerning the number of victims, the Russia Today correspondant cites the
example of a specific case of 25 villages that constitute the Malian district
of Konna. "The final outcome of the liberation effort is certainly
deplorable. According to our survey, the French Air Force reported
killing only two rebels. But it is the civilian population that paid the
heaviest price for liberation: 14 civilians were killed by French
bombs.” (Watch the video[ix]).

"At the time of the bombing, I was not home. I was praying when they
came to tell me that my family had been bombed. They destroyed everything I
had: my family and livelihood,” said Idriss Meiga, a farmer Konna whose wife
and 3 children (ages 11, 10 and 6 years ) were killed in the French air raids.

Abdoul Kappo explains that his family had to take in the three children of
a mother killed in the bombing. "The little ones came running and told us
that their mother had been killed. I have been taking care of them at my home.
Their mother died after an hour of suffering. She has left her three children.
Now they only have us,” said Abdoul Kampo.

In the region of Niono other witnesses hve described abuses carried out by the
Malian army. The victims include two cousins, Aboubakrim Ag Mohamed, a
marabout and farmer aged 37, and Samba Ag Ibrahim, a shepherd aged 50, who were
killed at Ceribala, 40 kilometers from Niono on Friday, January 18, 2013.

At Kona, five (05) civilians including a mother and her three young
children were killed during the counter-offensive led by the French and Malian
troops.

Translation [from Arabic]: She [an elderly woman, Menatou] arrived at the
refugee camp of M'bera east of Mauritania. She was a refugee looking for a safe
place, after leaving her two sons in the city after the outbreak of the war.
Menatou just recently had information confirming that traitors had taken her
sons. The Sahel news agency had this conversation with her: It was a very
moving debate, she remembered with sadness, with her two sons and a
brother she had left in the Mopti region after being forced to leave. She
lost track of their news, and then she learned that they were brutally killed.
She was crying, saying: We belong to God and to Him I will return; I swear they
were all killed. This elderly woman has not been able to sleep since she had
lost contact with her sons and her brother. She experiences extremely difficult
moments when she tries to talk about it; she remembers that this war is
entering s phase of ethnic cleansing and she wants to know how to save the
innocent civilians from this tragedy. This is the story of Aminatou [Menatou],
a widow seeking refuge, who spent 10 days on the road between Mopti and
Toumbouctou braving difficulties, traumatized by the pain of having been forced
to abandon her sons and her brother, whose executioners have no mercy! Who can
help her?

IN THE REGION OF TIMBUKTU

The information we collected through our surveys, among witnesses and family
members of the victims, all reveal that there is a manhunt for
"Tuaregs." When Timbuktu and Gao were re-taken by Malian and
French armies supported by [Hadj Gamou’s] troops from Niger, it was followed by
looting, theft, and vandalism against the inhabitants and their property.

Summary Executions:

At Timbuktu, as of February 6, 2012:

Mohamed Ag Mohamed Ousmane Ag Hama Ag Ihalissane (known as “Wagui”), a man
aged 65 who was the father of 11 children (6 boys and 5 girls), was arrested by
members of the Malian army under the command of Colonel Sangaré and Captain
Konate, and they summarily executed him.

Mohamed Ould Tijani, along with others whose bodies have not yet been
identified – killed by the Malian army and their Gandakoy militia.

A mass grave was also discovered in Timbuktu, not far from the Hotel Azalai
– some bodies have been identified and some remain unidentified.

At Timbuktu, as of February 14, 2012:

One of the most recent atrocities against Tuareg and Arab civilians occurred on
Febuary 14, 2012, in Timbuktu. In circumstances that remain to be determined
(no independent observer was on site), the Malian army arrested Eljimite Ag
Khaked (age 56) and his son Biga Ag Eljimite (age 19). Soon after, the bodies
of the two victims were found outside the city.

At Douenza – Ould Douchy

At Ber – Mohamed Ibrahim Ag Hama, known as Daha

At Gossi – February 10, 2012, Imam Mohamed Issouf Ag Attayoub and another
person whose name is not yet known.

At Léré – January 15, 2012, the following ten people were killed by the Malian
army:

In the town of Gossi and around it, the Malian army is blamed by both reporters
and witnesses. The number of missing persons [“disappearances”] is estimated at
more than 32 according to eyewitnesses who observed their arrests at Gossi.
Among these were children and elderly people. The Malian army is hunting
for "red skins," as the soldiers and their guides say. The 11
names that have been reported among the 32 are either the exact identities of
these individuals or else pseudonyms, according to rapporteurs. They were
executed a few kilometers from the town, along a pond known as "Ebang I
Mallane."

IN THE REGION OF GAO

In the region of Gao, at Tagarangabote (circle Ansongo, site of the latest
clashes between MUJAO and MNLA), the Malian army detained the entire population
at a well, and 22 motorcycles were confiscated from their owners and burned.
One man was robbed of his 4/4 vehicle and his satellite phone, then forcibly
dragged to Ansongo. In the city of Gao there were also abuses and executions.
We note that in each of the towns and villages mentioned here, the Malian army
systematically forced people to evacuate their homes, and confiscated their
property, ransacking what little was left in the hands of the families.

Many summary executions have taken place, but the details of names and data
could not be obtained for all of them, because of the pressure on civilians and
the hunt for “light-skinned” people.

We note that in each of the towns and villages mentioned above cons, the Malian
army engaged in systematic excavations of homes, involving a rampage of
confiscation and looting of the families’ property.

As Mr. Hama Ag Mahmoud, a member of MNLA, announced in October 2012, Bamako
must react quickly, very quickly and take clear measures: "Mali must
provide evidence that there is a government which oversees the country. We
expect an investigation and especially some action. We want evidence of
sanctions – not military sanctions but criminal sanctions.”

The MNLA is concerned about the impunity of these crimes against the
civilian population of Azawad, throughout all this conflict (1963-2012) with
Mali, and the fact that the perpetrators continue to be political and military
actors of Mali who are not subject to any legal proceedings.

International human rights, and people’s rights during war, applies to all
armed parties in the Malian conflict. These laws include Common Article
3, common to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, Protocol II of the Geneva
Conventions, and the customary laws of war. Common Article 3 and Protocol II
specifically prohibit the killing of captured combatants and civilians in
detention. Individuals who deliberately commit serious violations of the law of
war may be prosecuted for war crimes.

For this purpose the MNLA, calls National
and International jurisdictions to shed light on Mali and that the
perpetrators (civilian and military) of massacres of the people of Azawad must
be placed under arrest and brought before the International Courts including
the International Criminal Court, which has opened an investigation into the
situation in Mali.

Given all of our warnings that were not heeded, and having
witnessed the genocide of the 1990s, the opening of a Special Tribunal for Mali
is an absolute necessity to shed light on any abuses that took place from 1963
to the present. The MNLA recalls that war crimes committed by any belligerent
must be taken into account and punished under the Geneva Convention of 1949.

The Malian army has executed or "disappeared" more than
200 civilians in the past month

Report:Association of
Refugees and Victims of Repression of Azawad(ARVRA)

There have been 200 extrajudicial executions of Azawad civilians by the Malian
armysince the beginning of the
French intervention!

The Malian army has executed or abducted more than 200 civilians, mostly
Tuaregs and Moors, between 11 January and 15 February 2013 in the wake of the
French intervention. This figure is 15 times higher than the number of crimes
committed by the Malian forces during the three months that were spent in
clashes between the Malian army and the MNLA (January-March 2012).

Extrajudicial
executions, assassinations, murders and abductions of Tuareg, Moors, Fulani and
Songhai people occur blatantly, often during the day and in the presence of
witnesses. Soldiers, during operations, publicly rape, steal, and plunder
property belonging to members of the above mentioned communities and in some
cases supervise the acts of vandalism by black populations on location.Thus there were reports relating scenes
of public looting under the watchful eye of the Malian military the day after
the arrival of the French in Timbuktu. According to numerous witnesses,
hundreds of cattle were taken from their owners by the Malian military in the
area of ​​Gourma, and taken to Sevaré.

All these
acts have taken place in places that were re-taken by French forces after they
surrendered to the Malian army - since the Malian army had been unable to move around
on its own without the protection of French soldiers. Such crimes have taken
place in Konna, Sévaré, Niono, Diabali, Douentza, Gossi, Gao, Lere, Gundam, and
Timbuktu ....

As of
February 15th, Malian
soldiers have executed more than twenty people in various places in the
Tombouctou region: at Léré, 12
Tuaregs; at Echel near Tonka, 3 people; at Tintaboraghen (south of Timbuktu), 9
people – including 6 from the same family.

ARVRA
(Association of refugees and victims of repressions Azawad) is making the list
available, including the places and the testimony of several witnesses
concerning gross and massive violations of human rights.

Therefore, the ARVRA association expresses its deep concern and, to its
amazement, the face deafening silence of the French and Malian authorities in
the killing of innocent civilians since January 11, 2013. We recall that these
people have also been living under the yoke of the obscurantist
[Islamist/jihadist] forces and suffered their abuses.

If the fight
against terrorism is a just war, it can not overlook all of these war crimes,
crimes against humanity, or genocide.

It is
imperative that the Human Rights organizations, the United Nations, the African
Union, ECOWAS, and particularly the French and Malian authorities – take their
responsibilities in demanding the immediate cessation of acts of violence
against innocent civilians.

We are urging France to address Mali concerning these massacres without delay –
directly and officially – to cease and desist these atrocities, and to have the
perpetrators arrested. The presence of French troops on the ground in Mali and
Azawad suggests that it is possible, necessary and indispensable for France to
take action.

We call on
the ICC [International Criminal Court], in particular, the ICC Attorney
General, to exercise diligence and impartiality in challenging the authorities
in Bamako and opening an investigation on these crimes.